Punditry

FOREIGN tourists requesting visas to visit Germany for the Pope’s first pilgrimage abroad are being asked searching questions about their knowledge of Christianity.

The measure by Germany is designed to prevent a wave of illegal immigration, especially from the Balkans.

More than a million young believers are expected to attend the World Youth Conference in Cologne in August, when Pope Benedict XVI will make his first papal trip.

Germans are concerned that the religious festival will be exploited by people because of their country’s fast-lane visa regulations.

The career of Joschka Fischer, the Foreign Minister, was damaged this year after he was questioned on television for 12 hours over visa rules that allowed an influx of illegal Albanian and Ukrainian immigrants, many of whom were said to have become involved in drugs and prostitution.

German embassies abroad have therefore concocted a scored questionnaire to sort out the true pilgrims from the would-be criminals.

The questions begin harmlessly enough. “Who were the first people?” and “How and when did Jesus die?” The seven deadly sins, judging by a straw poll conducted by The Times among young Germans in Berlin, are generally known, though often for the wrong reason. “I know them because of the film Seven with Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow,” a 26-year-old woman said.

For infrequent churchgoers, naming the sacraments proved more difficult, and a question asking about the types of sin baffled many. Describing God’s activity (or rather lack of it) on the seventh day of creation was regarded as a little too tricky.[Source]

And if you don’t know the answer I wonder if you can just claim you went to a Catholic school during the seventies and beyond, surely they would understand. Though in this circumstance they could ask them a follow up question like how do you make a felt banner to verify that they are telling the truth.

Richmond, Va. — A new poll tells an old story: Americans are deeply religious, especially compared to Europeans. “Religious devotion sets the United States apart from some of its closest allies,” according to an AP-Ipsos survey. “Nearly all U.S. respondents said faith is important to them and only 2 percent said they do not believe in God.” Western Europeans are the “least devout” among the people surveyed (countries include the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, and Spain).

I certainly found this to be true while working on my new book, Exodus: Why Americans are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity. In interviews with believers a consistent theme emerged. They believers rejected the God-lite of progressive Christianity. They desire the absolute God of tradition.

Writer Andy Ferguson encountered the lesser god while taking a class at a West Coast Episcopal seminary. Andy sometimes argued basic Christian beliefs with a professor. After one such discussion he repaired to the lunchroom, where he was approached by a fellow student. “We have finally figured out what your problem is,” the classmate said. “You are the only one here who believes in God.” Andy thought it over and concluded: This guy is right. Thus began a journey that recently took him into Catholicism. In economic terms he had switched brands. It’s highly unlikely he’ll be switching back.

Andy’s not alone. The most recent “Religious Congregations and Membership” study, published in 2000 (the study is conducted each decade) by the Glenmary Research Center, tells the statistical story. Progressive churches are progressing, it seems, ever closer to oblivion. The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (11,106 churches) has experienced a decline of 11.6 percent over the previous ten years; the United Methodist Church (35,721 churches) was down 6.7 percent; and the Episcopal Church (7,314 churches) lost 5.3 percent of its membership. Also, the United Churches of Christ (5,863 churches) declined 14.8 percent while the American Baptist Churches USA were down 5.7 percent.

The denominations showing growth included the deeply conservative Southern Baptist Convention, a collection of 41,514 churches, whose overall growth rate was 5 percent. The traditionalist Presbyterian Church in America (as opposed the mainline Presbyterian Church U.S.A.) experienced an impressive 42.4 percent increase, while the Christian and Missionary Alliance rose 21.8 percent. Meanwhile, the Evangelical Free Church was up 57.2 percent, and Pentecostal denominations also boomed. The Assemblies of God, with 11,880 churches, saw 18.5 percent growth, while the Church of God, with 5,612 churches, saw growth of 40.2 percent.

What is behind this traditionalist rise and progressive decline? The New York Times, in its summary of the survey, noted, "Socially conservative churches that demand high commitment from their members grew faster than other religious denominations in the last decade…." Glenmary director Ken Sanchagrin told the paper he was “astounded to see that by and large the growing churches are those that we ordinarily call conservative. And when I looked at those that were declining, most were moderate or liberal churches. And the more liberal the denomination, by most people’s definition, the more they were losing."

God-lite is thin beer indeed. One group of theologians has whittled the traditional God down to 30 percent of his original power: He cannot affect the past or future and isn’t holding all that many cards in the present. This 30 percent god may not be powerful enough to fix a parking ticket. For many Americans he is certainly not worth rolling out of bed for on Sunday mornings. [Source]

God-lite indeed. I can almost see a commercial with two people arguing over God-lite. Less filling – No taste. The call to relevancy has made God irrelevant. Christianity with no commitment and no cross. A church that is but an echo of society instead of a radical call to holiness and love of God and neighbor. Instead of the rich theological banquet spiced with mystery we have received theological junk food that never quite looks like the picture it is advertised with. God-lite looks so good from the outside from the human perspective and leaves you with nothing to sink your teeth or your mind into. There was never no false advertisement with Christ who up front told us "to pick up the cross daily." The modern church advertises itself as having an "open mind" leading invariably to empty congregations.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you" — St. Augustine.

(AP) Pope Benedict XVI condemned same-sex unions as anarchic "pseudo-matrimony" Monday and reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion.

Benedict repeatedly referred to marriage as a union between man and woman in an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome on the role of the family held at St. John Lateran basilica.

He said matrimony was not just a "casual sociological construction" that changed in certain times in history but rather an institution that had its roots "in the most profound essence of the human being."

"The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man," he said.

The Vatican defines matrimony as a divine union between man and woman.

Wow that was a real helpful editorial clarification. Amazing how many times you could replace Vatican says" with "Jesus said" or "The Church has always taught" and have it be correct.

Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, spearheaded a Vatican campaign against same-sex unions in 2003, issuing guidelines for Catholic politicians to oppose laws granting legal rights to gay couples when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The former cardinal also frequently voiced the church’s opposition to abortion — a message he repeated Monday.

Children, he said, were the fruit of marriage and reflected God’s love for man.

"From here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it is to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that is born," he said.

Here are some of the sample headlines for this "Pope Slams Gay ‘Pseudo-Matrimony’", "Pope blasts gays, divorce in first speech" "First speech" since becoming Pope? Wow that must have been some speech with him slamming and blasting away. I think out of about 30 different headlines only one mentioned that he also talked about divorce and forms of heterosexual pseudo-marriage.

Here is some more information from the speech.

In a clear reference to contraception, the Pope said couples went against the nature of love itself when they "systematically shut off" the possibility of "the gift of life."

The 78-year-old Pope’s wide-ranging speech, interrupted by applause several times, touched on themes such as human sexuality and freedom. It clearly showed his background as one of the Roman Catholic Church’s leading theologians.

"The greatest expression of freedom is not the search for pleasure," he said, adding that society seemed to want to tear down the moral goalposts he said were needed for its future.

"Today, a particularly insidious obstacle to (moral) education is the overwhelming presence in our society and culture of a type of relativism that recognizes nothing as definitive…," he said.

Christopher has a Pope Benedict XVI roundup here.

1. Crucifix in a jar of urine – Art to be protected.
2. Elephant dung on a picture of the Madonna – Art to be protected.
3. Accidental urine over spray on a Koran via an air duct – High crime to be denounced by the major media.

The soldier who did this and who was subsequently relieved and sent to guard the gate instead should have claimed he was a performance artist.

A PRIEST was slightly hurt at Paris’s famed Notre-Dame Cathedral when clashes broke out between church security personnel and gay rights activists who performed a mock marriage of two lesbians.

About 20 members of the group Act Up entered the cathedral and proceeded to perform the mock marriage in front of baffled tourists and worshippers, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

One activist – dressed as a priest – pronounded the two women married, while other Act Up members chanted: "Pope Benedict XVI, homophobe, AIDS accomplice."

With security officials in pursit, they then fled the cathedral, but clashes broke out outside the Paris landmark, during which Monsignor Patrick Jacquin suffered a minor neck injury. He was treated at the scene.

The demonstration marked the first anniversary of France’s first gay wedding, performed last year in the Bordeaux suburb of Begles.

The union of two men has since been declared null and void by the French courts.

Monsignor Jacquin said: "They are savages. I was pushed to the ground and trampled, kicked in the neck.

"It’s a scandal for these people to lash out at me and the Pope."

He said he was considering filing charges against what he called "barbaric, odious and scandalous acts".

Surprising to see a Reuters headline that said "Priest hurt in mock gay marriage." Mock gay marriage is an exact description, of course they only intended this one circumstance. Homosexual activists often go from just saying they want to be accepted in society to trying to force their agenda on the Church. Tolerance is a one way street. It is also so ridiculous the charge about the Pope being a "AIDS accomplice." As if the Pope is really preventing these activists from buying condoms if they so choose. That people who are going against Christian teaching on the truth that homosexual activity is gravely sinful are going to pause when it comes to the Church’s saying that you can’t use condoms. This just doesn’t apply to homosexual acts anyway since they don’t become right by not using a condom. You just can’t get anymore contraceptive than through homosexual acts in themselves.

In related idiocy.

Campaigners have penned an open letter to Bob Geldof in protest at his decision to invite the Pope to support Live 8.

The National Secular Society (NSS) is pointing to the Vatican’s refusal to condone the use of condoms, saying it has helped spread HIV in Africa.

The society, which campaigns for religion to be taken out of public life, says it will create a counter-campaign of protest against any decision by Pope Benedict XVI to get involved.

NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood said Geldof should not have written to the Pope about attending the Hyde Park event.

He said: "Inviting the Pope to Live 8 would be a slap in the face for all those currently working to stem the spread of Aids in Africa. [Source]

I think I’m gonna be sad,
I think it’s today, yeah.
The Cardinal that’s driving me mad
Is not going away.

You need a ticket Mass
You need a ticket Mass
You need a ticket Mass
You need a ticket Mass
But he don’t care

This is a rather strange introduction to a post, but that is what came to mind on Clayton’s post that you need a ticket to go to the ordination Mass for five priests at the LA Cathedral. Closing the Cathedral to ordain five priests? Was there really going to be an unmanageable crowd for that number? Only one of the priests is a native to LA, while the other four are from other countries. In a diocese with the largest Catholic population in the US and has really such a low number of seminarians considering the demographic, why in the world would you close ordinations to the public? My charitable imagination strains at this one.

Unlike other Roman Catholic seminarians, Bryan Dolejsi didn’t grow up an altar boy or go to Catholic schools. He didn’t throw himself into church youth groups. He didn’t hear the call to priesthood his entire life, but rather, one routine day in college as he studied Chinese history in the library.

"It was definitely a very clear moment. It was just (God saying), ‘I want you to be a priest.’ I thought, ‘Oh, that’s weird. That didn’t come from me,’ " said Dolejsi, who had always assumed he’d get married and have kids. He had a girlfriend at the time, to whom he had to explain God’s request of him to "love in a different way."

This summer, after a nine-year journey of prayer and self-analysis, Dolejsi will start his last year of graduate-level theological studies, at a time when the numbers of American priests and seminary enrollments have plunged to all-time lows.

Definitely not a factually correct statement about American seminary enrollments being at an all time low and the next paragraph says that Seattle’s case bucks the national trend.

Dolejsi is part of a local trend bucking the national drift. He’s part of a bumper crop of seminarians sponsored by the Seattle Archdiocese — the highest number the local church has had in decades. At 30, Dolejsi — a fan of ultimate Frisbee and mountain biking — is also part of a new generation of younger men interested in wearing the collar.

…Soon after Dolejsi heard his calling, he told a woman at a party about his plans. "She said, ‘You seem really normal to be doing that.’ I thought, is that a compliment, or not?" he said, laughing.

"That summarizes the contemporary mind-set in general; it’s seen as something that’s odd, or a novelty."

…Rich Shively, the archdiocese’s vocations director, attributes those changes to two factors: an increased local focus in encouraging young men to consider the priesthood, and a growing orthodoxy among young Catholics influenced by the long papacy of John Paul II.

"Our approach to vocations has been intentionally low-key and invitational," he said. [Source]

Wow I wouldn’t think that anybody would boast that there vocations program was low key and invitational. I wonder just how many of the currently 35 (almost a triple increase in the last 12 years) seminarians considered their vocation because of low-key program Though it might be that in the case of Bryan Dolejsi that God was definitely not low key in informing him of his vocation.

Via Captain’s Quarters

Lawmakers voted Thursday to ban school districts from purchasing textbooks longer than 200 pages.

The bill, believed to be the first of its kind nationwide, was hailed by supporters as a way to revolutionize education. [Source]

That is is the first of its kind is no surprise since that happens a lot in California. Unfortunately like most bad trends initiated there they are sure to be coming to a state near you. I wonder what is next? Perhaps that all text be encapsulated in balloons like in comic books. But you know this plan will fall just as soon as one politically correct piece of information is snipped to fit When a Native Americans explanation of changing seasons is cut from a science book ore when one of myriad instances of "evil European settlers" is removed.

If I was living in California I would be tempted to request that they make all spending bills less than 200 pages also, but I know that if that happened they would be printed in a font size that would make microfiche look large by comparison.

The 200 page rule though has been a silent rule for many Catholic religious educators also. I have heard and read many times of those that complain that the Catechism is 800 pages and thus should be dismissed as being too big. Which I guess kind of leaves out the Bible also.

When he made his way to Blessed Trinity Catholic Church on April 24, Michael Gillis didn’t know he was doing anything radical.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. George Reger, had invited the Buffalo Adulterous Men’s Chorus to sing a concert that night. Gillis sings baritone with the group. "I used to sing tenor," he jokes, "but the voice starts sagging along with everything else."

The concert was intended as a fund-raising event for Habitat for Humanity and for the crumbling roof of Blessed Trinity, one of the most exquisite churches on Buffalo’s East Side.

Even though hundreds of people turned out to enjoy the music, the concert turned out to be trouble. A few dozen protesters greeted the singers with signs and shouts. The battle lines were drawn, with scores of vehement letters later sent to The Buffalo News for Everybody’s Column.

A few weeks later, the chorus found itself in the headlines again. The Buffalo Jewish Review decided that it wouldn’t run the group’s ads. In protest of that move, Temple Beth Zion pulled its advertising from the Review.

In short, the Buffalo Adulterous Men’s Chorus, formed four years ago, has become the center of controversy. Gillis can’t get over the flap that started with the concert.

"It was so innocent," he says. "We just wanted this poor guy to get a roof on his church."

He had thought that attitudes toward adulterers had relaxed.

Let’s get this straight: Parts of the city are turning into the Wild West, with murders and robberies on a large scale. Our county is broke. Our schools are struggling. And the big problem is that there’s a group of Adulterous guys singing Schubert?

"It’s painful thinking that concert turned into something it never should have been," says Barbara Wagner, who directs the chorus.

"It was all done with great love, a great sense of justice and truth. We love to sing together. It was such a good cause. And it’s such a gorgeous church."

There’s a good side, though, to the ruckus. The singers see how many friends they have, often in unlikely places.

"That really is a bold stance that (Temple) Beth Zion has taken – not just on our behalf, but for adulterous people everywhere," says Dave Gannon, the chorus’ president.

Gannon, a tenor, was also heartened by the Catholics who supported the church concert. "People were saying, "You boys hang in there.’ These were people in their 60s and 70s," he says. "There was a nun there. (And) I said, "Thank you for your support.’ She said, "No – thank you.’ "

The protesters argue that adultery is sinful, so the singers should have been barred from Blessed Trinity. [Source]

To be honest I modified this news story – I replaced the word gay used in the story with adulterous or adulterer. It is a strange thing today that a group of men who identify themselves primarily by their same-sex attraction is seen as not a problem by so many Catholics. The story had gone on to say "(The official Catholic position is that homosexual behavior is not approved, but the orientation is accepted.)" Which isn’t exactly right since the Church does not teach that same-sex attraction is an orientation only that it is "an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex" and that homosexual acts are contrary to the natural law and intrinsically disordered. Adultery starts with a predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the opposite sex when and Jesus considered even those who had adulterous thoughts as already committing adultery. Most Catholics still see adultery as wrong, though many have less of a problem with serial adultery where people are divorced and remarried without the Church declaring their previous marriage to have never in fact existed through a decree of nullity. If this same group of men had called themselves for example the Buffalo Men’s Choir or other such name, there probably would have been no problem (depending on the extent of their advocacy). This has been a tactic of the gay rights movement to primarily identify groups by their sexual attraction and then when anyone complains to through the homophobe charge at them and this has been a very effective tactic in culturally a very short time. About a year ago there was a similar story except that time a "Gay Men’s Chorus" was singing at a Catholic school.

L.A. Catholic points to a bizarre homily by a Father Kester who was on a leave of absence for awhile but is now back.

"[Those already baptized in another Christian faith] … have to read this little thing that said ‘I profess and believe all that the Catholic Church teaches and holds to be revealed by God.’ I sat back there and I thought … mmm … [I’m] glad they didn’t ask me to read that. I’d have to say … I believe … really … a good part of it … most of it [laughter]. I’m not sure I wanna stand up there and say I believe all [of it], everything."

"I once went and talked [about] this with my spiritual director … [about] something I was having a little problem with, a little article of faith and he said, ‘Kevin, faith is a gift from God and nobody can tell you you have to believe something. You either have the gift of faith to believe it or you don’t.’ I felt kind of good about that, that that would allow me to at least ponder these imponderables and not get too unglued."

He also links to an audio file of the homily. If spiritual directors could be sued for malpractice this one certainly could. To say that every article of faith requires a separate gift of faith is unbelievably dumb. As if each article of faith required a matching packet of faith to be sent to verify it. Kind of a faith protocol system sent along the grace backbone. That if there is a faith packet loss then you have a mismatch between what you should believe and what you can believe. The Catechism says:

Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed is contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason.

and

In faith, the human intellect and will co-operate with divine grace: "Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace.